tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747Sun, 17 Sep 2017 10:27:15 +0000BooksSportsTravelBook ClubPoliticsHealthVegina MonologuesWhat really grinds my gearsBattle du JourRTWLife's Rich PageantEponymous postings of Rich's musings on life, literature, and leisurehttp://www.richdeneault.com/noreply@blogger.com (Rich)Blogger220125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-6297655357924798002Wed, 30 Sep 2015 01:31:00 +00002015-09-29T21:37:14.903-04:00RTWTravel76 days around the world<!doctype html><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"> <head> <!-- NAME: 1 COLUMN --> <!--[if gte mso 15]> <xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> <o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml> <![endif]--> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <title>*|MC:SUBJECT|*</title> <style type="text/css"> p{ margin:10px 0; 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Notre premier courriel! </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="197" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" class="mcnTextContent" style="padding: 9px 18px 9px 0px;color: #008080;font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif;font-size: 10px;font-weight: normal;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;word-break: break-word;line-height: 18px;text-align: left;"> <a href="*|ARCHIVE|*" target="_blank" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #656565;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;">View this email in your browser</a> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" id="templateHeader" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;background-color: #FFFFFF;border-top: 0;border-bottom: 0;padding-top: 9px;padding-bottom: 0;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"> <tr> <td valign="top" class="mcnTextBlockInner" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="282" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" class="mcnTextContent" style="padding: 9px 0px 9px 18px;font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;font-size: 18px;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;word-break: break-word;color: #202020;line-height: 24px;text-align: left;"> <span style="color:#696969">Hi everyone!<br>During our trip we'd love to share photos and updates of our travel adventures. I figure a quick newsletter with a photo or two would be a good idea! <br><br>Thank you!<br>Sophie and Richard</span><br><br> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="282" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" class="mcnTextContent" style="padding: 9px 18px 9px 0px;font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;font-size: 18px;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;word-break: break-word;color: #202020;line-height: 24px;text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #696969;">Bonjour a tous!</span><br style="color: #696969;"><span style="color: #696969;">Pendant notre voyage nous souhaitons envoyer des nouvelles et des photos de nos aventures. Un joli email avec quelques photos me semble une bonne idée!</span><br style="color: #696969;"><span style="color: #696969;"></span><br style="color: #696969;"><span style="color: #696969;">Merci!</span><br style="color: #696969;"><span style="color: #696969;">Sophie et Richard</span> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnImageBlock" style="min-width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody class="mcnImageBlockOuter"> <tr> <td valign="top" style="padding: 9px;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" class="mcnImageBlockInner"> <table align="left" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnImageContentContainer" style="min-width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td class="mcnImageContent" valign="top" style="padding-right: 9px;padding-left: 9px;padding-top: 0;padding-bottom: 0;text-align: center;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <img align="center" alt="" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/ec9271f61f4db5281a59fcf9c/images/5524e1af-769d-458c-a89a-6ca818f4513a.jpg" width="564" style="max-width: 800px;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline !important;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;" class="mcnImage"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" id="templateBody" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;background-color: #FFFFFF;border-top: 0;border-bottom: 2px solid #EAEAEA;padding-top: 0;padding-bottom: 9px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnBoxedTextBlock" style="min-width: 100% !important;border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <!--[if gte mso 9]> <table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"> <![endif]--> <tbody class="mcnBoxedTextBlockOuter"> <tr> <td valign="top" class="mcnBoxedTextBlockInner" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <!--[if gte mso 9]> <td align="center" valign="top" "> <![endif]--> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnBoxedTextContentContainer" style="min-width: 600px;max-width: 600px;border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="padding-top: 9px;padding-left: 18px;padding-bottom: 9px;padding-right: 18px;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="18" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextContentContainer" width="100%" style="min-width: 100% !important;background-color: #F7B7AE;border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" class="mcnTextContent" style="color: #F2F2F2;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 14px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 18px;text-align: center;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;word-break: break-word;"> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222;font-family: arial,sans-serif;line-height: normal;">Here's the link to our travel map. You'll find all the details of where we're staying, which airline we're flying, which hotel we'll stay at. Basically more information then you require!</span></div><br><span style="color: #222222;font-family: arial,sans-serif;line-height: normal;">In English:</span> <div style="color: #222222;font-family: arial, sans-serif;line-height: normal;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z8ptjeeMr-T8.kLm2rm9lGadc&usp=sharing" style="color: #1155CC;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z8ptjeeMr-T8.kLm2rm9lGadc&usp=sharing</a> <div> </div> <div>En Francais:</div> <div><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z8ptjeeMr-T8.kd34866U02kQ&usp=sharing" style="color: #1155CC;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z8ptjeeMr-T8.kd34866U02kQ&usp=sharing</a></div></div> <div style="color: #222222;font-family: arial, sans-serif;line-height: normal;"> </div> <div style="color: #222222;font-family: arial, sans-serif;line-height: normal;">(click on the left side for more details for each place or things, remove or add layers to visualize at your leisure)</div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!--[if gte mso 9]> </td> <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> </tr> </table> <![endif]--> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnFollowBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody class="mcnFollowBlockOuter"> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 9px;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" class="mcnFollowBlockInner"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td align="center" style="padding-left: 9px;padding-right: 9px;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnFollowContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 10px;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" class="mcnFollowContent"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td align="left" valign="top" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnFollowContentItem" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr></tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" id="templateFooter" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;background-color: #FAFAFA;border-top: 0;border-bottom: 0;padding-top: 9px;padding-bottom: 9px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnDividerBlock" style="min-width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;table-layout: fixed !important;"> <tbody class="mcnDividerBlockOuter"> <tr> <td class="mcnDividerBlockInner" style="min-width: 100%;padding: 10px 18px 25px;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <table class="mcnDividerContent" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="min-width: 100%;border-top-width: 2px;border-top-style: solid;border-top-color: #EEEEEE;border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <span></span> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><!-- <td class="mcnDividerBlockInner" style="padding: 18px;"> <hr class="mcnDividerContent" style="border-bottom-color:none; border-left-color:none; border-right-color:none; border-bottom-width:0; border-left-width:0; border-right-width:0; margin-top:0; margin-right:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:0;" />--> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="mcnTextBlock" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"> <tr> <td valign="top" class="mcnTextBlockInner" style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse;mso-table-lspace: 0pt;mso-table-rspace: 0pt;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" class="mcnTextContent" style="padding-top: 9px;padding-right: 18px;padding-bottom: 9px;padding-left: 18px;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;word-break: break-word;color: #656565;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 12px;line-height: 18px;text-align: center;"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table></td> </tr> </table> <!--[if gte mso 9]> </td> </tr> </table> <![endif]--> <!-- // END TEMPLATE --> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </body></html>http://www.richdeneault.com/2015/09/96-mcsubject-p-margin10px-0-padding0.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-5062452556642963660Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:58:00 +00002010-06-11T23:18:29.123-04:00SportsTravelGroup A - Third games<meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>369</o:Words> <o:characters>2106</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>17</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>4</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>2586</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 27.35pt 1.0in 27.35pt; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mexico vs. Uruguay</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">In a battle of the uglies, we decide the ugliest Group A country.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium none;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Uruguay<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Mexico<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">People<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (wow, the only girl I know from Uruguay is actually pretty cute, and now I have gone and given them 0 points in beauty for people!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">2 points (the french stand up as a group of pretty sex men and women)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Natural Beauty<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points (although I took away points for this earlier, if 90% of the population live in Montevideo, the countryside must be pretty nice, and well, they do have a coastline along the Atlantic ocean)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points (for all I ragged on them, you do have the mayan pyramids, copper canyon, coasts on both the pacific and atlantic ocean, so a pretty beautiful place)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Language<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">½<span style=""> </span>points (I have a feeling like we may end up with quite a few of these Spanish on Spanish showdowns in the games to come)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">½<span style=""> </span>points (we have to stop this spanish on spanish violence)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Dance<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point (it is a shame that the sexiest dance known to man will not survive the first round)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (Mexicans like to wear masks)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Food<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (outside of Uruguay, who eats Uruguayan food?)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point (pintos and rice finally prevail!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Final Score – Mexico 4.5, Uruguay 2.5<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Mexico leaves the tournament as a beauty in training – looking to grow up a bit.<span style=""> </span>Uruguay needs a name change if it wants to win any beauty pageants.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-weight: bold;">France vs. South Africa</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium none;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">France<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">South Africa<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">People<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">2 points (The President is married to a hot model)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">0 points (their previous president looks like a hairless mole – cute maybe, but not beautiful)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Natural Beauty<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points (a PUSH here, as both countries have great natural beauty)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points (wild natural parks couldn’t quite overtake so much coastline, mountains and rivers)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Language<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">½ point (alors, voila!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">½ point (in Namibia, they have clicks in their language, how cool is that? And Namibia is close enough to count for the host country!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Dance<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">½ point (the French know how to dress themselves, so at least they look good while dancing)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">½<span style=""> </span>points (tribal dances like to dress down, but a little more athleticism in their movement, so I give them a push!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Food<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points (even though Uruguay’s food is based on European, there is just no way anybody is scoring any points against French food)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (ya, foie gras may not be beautiful, but there is a reason that French cuisine and haute couture go hand in hand)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Final Score – France 5, South Africa 2<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Both advance, but now France has a better draw for Round 2<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Final Standings after Round 1:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">France 9 points, South Africa 6 points, Mexico 3 points, Uruguay 0 points<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/06/group-third-games.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)84tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-3104396321100247407Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:50:00 +00002010-06-11T22:57:39.433-04:00SportsTravelGroup A - second games<span style="font-weight: bold;">South Africa vs. Uruguay</span>
<br />Well a win by the host country in their second game would ensure that they advance. As we saw in the first round, other than dance, Uruguay is not so strong in the beauty department.
<br />
<br /><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>135</o:Words> <o:characters>771</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>6</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>946</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium none;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Uruguay<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">South Africa<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">People<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point (90% are of European decent)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">1 point (you have the Dutch settlers mixing with various tribes to give us such celebrities as Dave Matthews and Steve Nash!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Natural Beauty<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (what of note is in this country? I did a project on it in grade 8 and even I have not remembered much of importance!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">2 points (elephants and lions)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Language<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 point (I have already demonstrated that Afrikaans > Spanish as it has this romantic, gruff tone that women love)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">1 points (sorry spanish, too much passion ruins the beauty at this point)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Dance<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points (tango = sex in motion)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (no sex for me, I want to avoid HIV)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Food<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">½ point (um, wikipedia lists some Italian sandwhich as a national dish….this one is a draw pretty much because neither country is too strong here)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">½ a point (when is the last time you went to Steers? It is the South African version of McDonald’s….taste pretty much the same)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!--EndFragment-->
<br /><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>154</o:Words> <o:characters>882</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>7</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>1083</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Final score – South Africa 4.5 to Uruguay 2.5<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">With the win, South Africa advances to the 2<sup>nd</sup> round!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->
<br /><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p style="font-weight: bold;"></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-weight: bold;">France vs. Mexico</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">I think the real battle here will be about the women and the food!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium none;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Mexico<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">France<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">People<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point (girls, girls, girls)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">1 point (filles, filles, filles)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Natural Beauty<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (Mexican Riviera)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">2 points (French Riviera, you take your pick)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Language<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points (Mucho gusto)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">0 points (Sacré bleu)<span style=""> </span>once again, Spanish proves to be a more beautiful language than French<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Dance<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point (Spanish is a language that translates well into dance – sex on the dance floor)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (attitude is not enough for lack of creativity vs. other European dances)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Food<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (I actually love Mexican food but it is being held back by its relative street grub reputation)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point (“I’m Julia Childs, and I say French cooking is da bomb”)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Final score – France 4, Mexico 3<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Our closest game yet, sees Mexico eliminated – I will miss the beautiful Mexican women, but the men are too ugly, and driving a camero is not getting them anywhere in the world of beauty.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->
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<br />http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/06/group-second-games.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-5340480028402660566Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:40:00 +00002010-06-11T22:50:03.855-04:00SportsTravelGroup A - First games<span style="font-weight: bold;">Mexico vs. South Africa</span>
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<br />Bafana Bafana, as the South African’s side is dubbed, are hosting this year’s instalment of the grand ball. But if you think I’m going to be lenient with them, think again. I mean, when you think of beauty, surely Mexico has to be one of the countries that come to mind immediately? Montezuma’s revenge, overpopulated mass urbanization, pollution, drug smuggling. Ah yes, beautiful Mexico. Um wait. Mexico is also the home country of her:
<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 121px; height: 229px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_t_6ZS-aqw24/R3prS1UgJXI/AAAAAAAAKM4/CBDjtRnL6uE/s1600/galilea.JPG" alt="[galilea.JPG]" border="0" />
<br /></div>
<br /><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>6</o:Words> <o:characters>35</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>1</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>42</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">while South Africa is the home of “her”:
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><img style="cursor: -moz-zoom-in; width: 168px; height: 233px;" alt="http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/caster-semenya-11.jpg" src="http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/caster-semenya-11.jpg" /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>29</o:Words> <o:characters>167</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>1</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>205</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Hmm, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so this may be a tough exercise.<span style=""> </span>Ok, so let’s break this down by category shall we? In fact, we’ll be using this approach regularly throughout these entries</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>108</o:Words> <o:characters>618</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>5</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>758</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium none;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">South Africa<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Mexico<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">People<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points – Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond does not count<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">2 points – hot women, suave men<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Natural Beauty<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">2 points (Krugger National Park, Cape of Good Hope)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (diarrhoea inducing water and all-inclusive resorts)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Language<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point (Afrikaans rocks)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (Mexican Spanish is like saying that Québecois French is beautiful)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Dance<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">½ point (tribal Paul Simon inspired movements)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">½ point (Mexican hat Dance alone is worth this one point!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Food<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 point + ½ for steal from Taco Bell loss by Mexico (combine Dutch, Indian, and Khoishan culture and what do you get? I don’t know, but it is better than Mexican inspired fast food)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points for tacos, nachos, burritos but for Taco Bell inspired penalty = ½ point<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!--EndFragment-->
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>79</o:Words> <o:characters>453</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>3</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>556</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><span>Final score – South Africa 4, Mexico 3</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">A WIN for South Africa!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">(Mexico encourages men to start trimming ½ moustaches, while encouraging more Mexican women to take center stage for their next beauty contest)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->
<br /></span></p><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Uruguay vs. France</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Somehow, a small South American country that claims to know of my sexuality (no, you’re gay, stupid country), has more World Cup trophies than all of North America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania combined.<span style=""> </span>In fact WAY more trophies (2 to zero).<span style=""> </span>But how beautiful is Uruguay? Well, the snobby French are ready for them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>94</o:Words> <o:characters>538</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>4</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>660</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium none;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border: 0.5pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none;color:windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Uruguay<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: 0.5pt 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: solid solid solid none;color:windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">France<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">People<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (I’m tempted to give them a point as South Americans are generally pretty suave, but come on, against French girls???)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">2 points (2 words: filles françaises!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Natural Beauty<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (from Wikipedia: rolling plains and low hill ranges)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">2 points (Paris, the city of lights + the Alps, um, no contest)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Language<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 points (Mucho gusto)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="FR-CA">0 points (Sacré bleu)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Dance<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point (tango, enough said)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt; border-style: none solid solid;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Food<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.35pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">0 points (even though Uruguay’s food is based on European, there is just no way anybody is scoring any points against French food)<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 189.4pt; border-width: medium 0.5pt 0.5pt medium; border-style: none solid solid none;color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;" valign="top" width="189"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">1 point<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Final score – France 5, Uruguay 2<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Les Bleus come out on top as expected<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment--><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p> http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/06/group-first-games.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-6621031643782256951Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:39:00 +00002010-06-11T22:40:23.795-04:00SportsTravelWorld Cup Travel Bracketology<meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>293</o:Words> <o:characters>1674</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>13</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>3</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>2055</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Well the first game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is in the books – not surprisingly, it was a tie.<span style=""> </span>As the world’s most watched sport takes center stage again, my creative juices have begun to spark.<span style=""> </span>I realize it has been a slow blogging year, but I’m hoping to spice things up with my second annual “Travel Destinations” bracket buster.<span style=""> </span>Last year, the NCAA’s March Madness tournament was the inspiration for a 64 entry single elimination tournament to decide which tourist destination was the world’s best.<span style=""> </span>With a little bit of creative fiction, it turns out that the Trans-Siberian rail came out on top.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Last year’s set up was much more geared towards destination, as opposed to the countries themselves.<span style=""> </span>Yes, a few entries were actual countries (i.e. Nepal), but for the most part it was monuments, parks, cities and places across the world.<span style=""> </span>With FIFA’s World Cup, we now have a chance to crown a new “Travel Destinations” champion for 2010. The catch for this year will be that the competition will be between the 32 countries in this year’s World Cup Finals.<span style=""> </span>They will compete against one another in the same order they find themselves at the World Cup (Groups A through H).<span style=""> </span>Two winners will move beyond the group stage to the round of 16 and then in single elimination until we reach the finals.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">I have thought long and hard over how to determine the winners.<span style=""> </span>In the end, I decided that since football is the dubbed the beautiful game that the winner would be chosen based on its beauty.<span style=""> </span>But beauty comes in many forms, so I have come up with 3 measures of beauty, as follows: a) the beauty of the people (worth 2 points); b) the natural beauty of the country itself (worth 2 points); and finally the beauty of the culture (to measure the beauty of culture, we will use language, dance, and food, each worth 1 point).<span style=""> </span>I hope you will be encouraged to comment along the way.<span style=""> </span>Much like last year’s entries, I have no predetermined winner in mind – we’ll simply see how the match ups go! So, let’s get beautiful!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/06/world-cup-travel-bracketology.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-6607215835964410862Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:40:00 +00002010-04-26T14:20:30.632-04:00Destination Party!I recently returned from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. My week in the sun was to mark a good friend's wedding. These destination weddings have become quite popular of late, allowing newlyweds to spend a week's worth of vacation with their friends and families, enjoying food, beach, alcohol and all the specially folded towels an Olympic swimmer could handle.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="cursor: -moz-zoom-in; width: 335px; height: 252px;" alt="http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/0e/52/9b/maid-s-towel-art.jpg" src="http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/0e/52/9b/maid-s-towel-art.jpg" /><br /></div><br />It got me to thinking, with such a large industry dedicated to weddings, why not other destination events? I mean, surely other people than newlyweds can benefit from some fun in the sun? Indeed, here is a short list of destination parties that travel agents can feel free to steal!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Destination Funeral</span><br />If you can celebrate the death of single life in the Caribbean, I don't see why you can't mark the passage of human life by imbuing all you can drink liquor? I mean, you are going to be depressed and angry drinking at home, why not do it on the beach? Sure the black outfits are not exactly swimming and sand attire, but the sunburn won't be any worse for the wear.<br /><br />In fact, I think a destination funeral would be ideal. Bring friends and family together, celebrate someone's life, and then spread the ashes on the beach. Who wouldn't want a bikini glad hottie lying on top of their remains for the rest of history? If anyone is reading this who has ultimate responsibility for me later in life, I command you to have a destination funeral!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Destination Bris</span><br />Jewish tradition really knows how to mark a boy's beginning to life - let's cut off part of his penis. Well, I'm all for it - why not celebrate the slicing by doing it on the beach! Sure there is a small risk of infection from having sand get in the way, but nothing a little tent can't protect! Plus, all you can eat kosher food does the body good.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Destination Birthday</span><br />Ok, so this one is obvious. In fact, I'm sure it already takes place - but, when I was in DR, it was a young boy's birthday (8th) and it was pretty difficult to get some cake. So these hotels really need to up their dessert quotients; I mean, sugar grows in forests down there, can't they come up with a decent chocolate brownie. So here are some tips to the hotels: weddings need photographers, flowers, champagne, and a gazebo. Birthdays need board games, pin the tail on the donkey, cake (lots of cake!) and of course, live music!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Destination small claims court</span><br />How much more interesting would Judge Judy be with a Pina Colada in her hands and a sombrero on her head? Yup, the cost may be prohibitive, given it is "small" claims court, but what witness wouldn't want to show up on a beach to tell the judge how his neighbor was helping him fix his car and not at his sister's stealing $1200 on the night in question. Lawyers fees may be a bit exhorbitant, but they probably could use a vacation anyways, right.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Destination dentistry work</span><br />Who wouldn't want a crown replaced on the beach? Well, I may be wrong about this one, but you usually need to eat from a straw after these events, right? Why not replace all your meals with all you can drink slushees? I mean, even if you are not into the alcohol, the lemonade, jello, and virgin margaritas should help you recover pretty quickly from all that oral drilling!<br /><br />Really, the possibilities are endless: destination prom, destination, lobodomy, destination halloween party, destination bar mitzvah, and of course, do not forgot the destination mother's day gathering!http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/04/destination-party.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-6524541094838888653Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:14:00 +00002010-02-25T21:17:38.920-05:00SportsWorse Country at the 2010 Olympics<meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/richarddeneault/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>1814</o:Words> <o:characters>10341</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>86</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>20</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>12699</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1287</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 27.35pt 1.0in 27.35pt; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Checking out the men’s giant slalom today, it became very apparent that a number of skiers were just plain awful.<span style=""> </span>Now absolute atrociousness is more a hallmark of the Summer Olympics, where many more countries compete.<span style=""> </span>In the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, there are 82 countries competing.<span style=""> </span>To date, the games have broken the record for number of countries receiving medals for a winter Olympics – that number would be 26.<span style=""> </span>In the last week of the Games, this number will probably not change much.<span style=""> </span>So approximately 2/3<sup>rd</sup> of the countries at these Games will not win medals.<span style=""> </span>In comparison, the 2008 Summer games had 204 countries (or rather national Olympic Committees) competing, with 86 winning medals, which represents a little over 40%.<span style=""> </span>In the first winter Olympics, there were 16 countries in total, 10 of which brought home medals.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Without going through a whole statistical history lesson, I think it is safe to say that fewer countries win medals in winter Olympics than do summer Olympics, in terms of both absolute numbers and as a percentage of those entered.<span style=""> </span>Until recently, with the addition of more and more countries to the winter Olympics, this percentage has only worsened.<span style=""> </span>With the exception of a few rare cases, no countries in the southern hemisphere win medals at the winter Olympics, and the only reason why “more” countries are winning medals nowadays is that a) Yugoslavia and Soviet Union splintered into many countries and b) random athletes move from true winter countries to countries that adopt them (i.e. Dale Begg-Smith from Australia, who is Canadian).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">All this talk makes me ask the question, who is the worse country at the 2010 winter Olympics?<span style=""> </span>In order to determine this “prestigious” title, I will use the following quantifiers: 1) number of athletes (a low number means you suck more); 2) poor results from your athletes; and 3) did not finish from your athletes.<span style=""> </span>The model of outright suckiness would be a country with very few athletes (between 2 and 5), all of whom failed to complete their events.<span style=""> </span>Note that having only 1 athlete will not hinder you if that athlete competes and finishes “not last”, vs.<span style=""> </span>a country with 5 athletes, all of whom suck balls.<span style=""> </span>So let’s see, who wants it the least?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Candidates</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Nearly all of the following countries have less than 5 athletes at the Olympics.<span style=""> </span>Surely the “worse” country must come from that list?<span style=""> </span>Well, as you will see with our first candidate, that is not necessarily the case.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Argentina</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – One could argue that Argentina is the world’s greatest soccer nation (with all due respect to Brazil and Germany).<span style=""> </span>Although that is probably not true, we can certainly agree that they are one of the best countries at a sport that is played by everyone.<span style=""> </span>Yet, they absolutely suck at winter sports.<span style=""> </span>Case in point, there were 40 athletes in men’s singles luge – the Argentine athlete finished 38<sup>th</sup> and the only 2 athletes that he “beat” were from Georgia.<span style=""> </span>One of the athletes he defeated tragically died and the other was DNS (i.e. was too afraid to do the event).<span style=""> </span>Oh yeah, that athlete from Argentina was 48 years old.<span style=""> </span>Their only cross country skier finished 82<sup>nd</sup> out of 95 finishers. Remembering that they have a major mountain chain in their country, they did have 5 skiers in alpine ski – the best finish they have is 26<sup>th</sup>, which is respectable.<span style=""> </span>Two of the 5 skiers had either DNS or DNF in one of their races.<span style=""> </span>It remains to be seen how badly they perform in the remaining events, but for now, the mantle of worse country at the 2010 Olympics seems destined for another place.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Bermuda</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – it seems like taking candy from a baby, but I mean, this is the country that walked into the opening ceremonies with shorts on!!! Right away, they lose major points with the jury.<span style=""> </span>Bermuda has 1 athlete at these games and he finished 88<sup>th</sup> in the 15km cross country ski.<span style=""> </span>There were 95 people who finished.<span style=""> </span>If he had finished last, Bermuda would be a shoe in for worse performing country, but thankfully the men’s 15km freestyle race had a few other chumps in the race (that we will revisit later on).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Cayman Islands</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – Again, another islands with no snow, yet 1 skier at these Olympics.<span style=""> </span>Even worse than Bermuda, there are no mountains and this guy is in alpine skiing!<span style=""> </span>Fortunately, he finished 75<sup>th</sup> in the first run out of about 100 skiers, so the Cayman Islands are safe from mockery.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Ethiopia</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – 1 athlete.<span style=""> </span>1 event. He beat 2 people.<span style=""> </span>Again, the men’s 15km freestyle cross country ski rears its ugly head.<span style=""> </span>The Ethiopian athlete was over ten minutes behind in a race that last a little more than a half hour.<span style=""> </span>From his Wikipedia profile, </span><span style="" lang="EN">Although he has lived in the US since the age of 9, he has founded and heads the Ethiopian National Skiing Federation, and still speaks fluent Amharic</span><span style="" lang="EN-CA">.<span style=""> </span>Fortunately for him, he did beat 2 athletes, thus raising the Ethiopian flag proud.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Ghana</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – The “snow leopard” has been the talk of these games.<span style=""> </span>With the men’s Giant Slalom on today, I expected to see him, but I guess it is difficult to see a leopard, even if they are spotted in the snow.<span style=""> </span>Actually, he did not enter the Giant Slalom, thus leaving him only with the slower, easier, less technical slalom to enter.<span style=""> </span>If he finishes last, which he has vowed not to do, then Ghana will definitely be the worse.<span style=""> </span>He actually has a great story, and in all due respect, he is what sports are all about.<span style=""> </span>The “spots” on his leopard jacket are names of his sponsors, and he has stated that he will return to Ghana to train tomorrow’s Olympians.<span style=""> </span>He is either the world’s smartest con artist or a man with a huge heart; for now, I’ll chose to believe in his dreams.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Hong Kong</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – They have one athlete.<span style=""> </span>She is in short track speed skating.<span style=""> </span>In all 3 of her events, she did not advance out of the heats, although she did beat a few athletes.<span style=""> </span>I mention her simply because of her story at the opening ceremonies.<span style=""> </span>Due to sponsorship contracts, she had to wear a light jacket during the ceremony and not her usual winter jacket; because of this, she caught a cold.<span style=""> </span>Wow, I wonder what happened to the guy with shorts on? Good thing for her the Games were not in Siberia but rather in the deep freeze of Vancouver.<span style=""> </span>Ha!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Iceland</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – All four of their athletes are in alpine skiing.<span style=""> </span>And they are not the worse performers.<span style=""> </span>They may actually get a top 30 finish.<span style=""> </span>However, the very fact that they are called Iceland means they need to pick up their socks.<span style=""> </span>I mean, if a country was called swimland you would think they would do well in aquatics at the summer Olympics.<span style=""> </span>And since there is no country called snowville, or skitown, Iceland really has to either change their name, or start better performing in winter Olympics.<span style=""> </span>I mean, come on.<span style=""> </span>They don’t even compete in skating and they are called “ice” land.<span style=""> </span>I think they should change their name to geyserland or just stop showing up.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Ireland</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – if you have been watching any of the sliding events, you know of all this controversy between Ireland and Australia, as to which descendants of English prisoners should be allowed into the Olympics.<span style=""> </span>The aussies claimed that the Olympics should include all the continents, ipso facto, they should be in there.<span style=""> </span>The Irish said, we’re drunk, let us go tobogganing! So the IOC let them both in.<span style=""> </span>Of course, the Irish promptly finished 25<sup>th</sup> in men’s skeleton (out of 26) and 17<sup>th</sup> out of 19<sup>th</sup> in women’s 2-man bobsleigh (beating the Aussies, take that you thieves from down under).<span style=""> </span>In the famous men’s 15km freestyle cross-country ski, Ireland’s competitor (I refrain from using the term athlete here) was 91<sup>st</sup> out of 95.<span style=""> </span>It remains to be seen how their two skiers do in the slalom, but given that they finished all their races, Ireland can stand tall at these winter Olympics.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Israel</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – I was all ready to make a bunch of anti-Semitic remarks, but low and behold, the Israeli ice dancing pair finished 10<sup>th</sup>! Mazaltoss! (um, I have no idea how to spell that word)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Kyrgyzstan</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – Ok, now we are really getting into the heart of the possible candidates.<span style=""> </span>First of all, I’m sure you do not know where this country is located, but I can guarantee you, it is in the Northern hemisphere.<span style=""> </span>Moreover, it was once blessed with funding from a central Communist regime, namely, the Soviets.<span style=""> </span>So they must be good at winter sports right? Um, wrong.<span style=""> </span>First of all, I’m sure they are dirt poor, living in their huts, in the vast central asian steppes.<span style=""> </span>They have 2 athletes at these games.<span style=""> </span>In the women’s cross country sprint, their athlete was 54<sup>th</sup> out of 54 athletes in qualifying, finishing nearly 1 minute out of first place, and over 10 seconds behind the before last place competitor (this race takes about 3:45 minutes for the average Olympian). In the men’s giant slalom, their athlete did finish the race, which is what will save this country from title of worse at the Olympics, but he was in 76<sup>th</sup> out of 81 finishers.<span style=""> </span>We’ll see how the slalom goes on Friday.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Mexico</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – Yes, they compete at the winter Olympics.<span style=""> </span>I have to share this story.<span style=""> </span>They have 1 athlete, and he is descendant of Austrian royalty.<span style=""> </span>How freaking cliché is that.<span style=""> </span>Oh yeah, he competed at the 1984 winter Olympics.<span style=""> </span>You now, those Olympics when Regan was President?<span style=""> </span>What the shit.<span style=""> </span>Needless to say, he is not good (now) and is old.<span style=""> </span>He finished 78<sup>th</sup> out of 81 in the men’s giant slalom – but again, he DID finish.<span style=""> </span>Finally, their hockey team tried to qualify for the Olympics, but were eliminated by hockey power house Spain (damn colonialism, they conquered us but they forgot to leave elbow pads for hockey!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Mongolia</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – a friend told me a funny story about Mongolia.<span style=""> </span>He said that a number of years ago they had a census for determining people’s names, as no one had family names.<span style=""> </span>As it turns out 90% or so of the population wanted the name Kahn, as in Gengis Khan.<span style=""> </span>Well instead they got names like this </span><span style="" lang="EN">Khash-Erdene Khurelbataar and Erdene-Ochir Ochirsuren (the first one is the man).<span style=""> </span>They finished 87<sup>th</sup> in 15km cross country ski and 68<sup>th</sup> in 10km ski respectively.<span style=""> </span>So they both finished, not in last, and went home to ride horses, I’m sure.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN"><b>Nepal</b></span><span style="" lang="EN"> – This is a country with the highest mountain chain the world.<span style=""> </span>Plus they all pray a lot.<span style=""> </span>Combine those things and you would think they could have a decent alpine skiers.<span style=""> </span>No, they do not.<span style=""> </span>They had a guy named Sherpa (I’m not making that up), who has indeed climbed Mount Everest and he then finished before, before, before last in the famous men’s 15 km cross country ski race.<span style=""> </span>Oh yeah, he also runs marathons.<span style=""> </span>Jeesh.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN"><b>Pakistan</b></span><span style="" lang="EN"> – One man, on goal.<span style=""> </span>Do not finish last in the men’s giant slalom.<span style=""> </span>Amazing how many people have this goal.<span style=""> </span>He finished before, before last.<span style=""> </span>But yet again, he did indeed finish!<span style=""> </span>He was the first Pakistani ever in the winter Olympics.<span style=""> </span>And I should just state right now that although I am making fun of all these athlete, I could probably not make it down that mountain myself.<span style=""> </span>So in all sincerity, congratulations.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN"><b>Portugal</b></span><span style="" lang="EN"> -<span style=""> </span>Ok, I meant that for the Pakistani athlete, but not for this Portugese guy.<span style=""> </span>He was the only athlete from his country and he finished last in the 15km Freestyle men’s ski race.<span style=""> </span>I mean, it was close, but a guy in shorts (Bermuda), a guy from India, and a guy from Ethiopia beat him.<span style=""> </span>Portugal is the reigning world champions in soccer, are they not? They have really good athletes.<span style=""> </span>They are fairly well developed.<span style=""> </span>I know it is not the winter capitol of the world, but come on.<span style=""> </span>You suck Portugal.<span style=""> </span>1 athlete entered, 1 last place finish.<span style=""> </span>Officially the worse country at the Olympics. </span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>San Marino</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – Wait, the San Marino athlete finished before last in the men’s giant slalom.<span style=""> </span>Luckily for him, he beat a guy from India, something that cannot be said for our aforementioned friend from Portugal.<span style=""> </span>San Marino also only has 30,000 people.<span style=""> </span>So they get off easy.<span style=""> </span>Oh yeah, that Portuguese athlete was born in New Jersey.<span style=""> </span>What the shit winter Olympics.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>South</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> <b>Africa</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – 2 athletes, one did not finish, one did not advance out of the heats.<span style=""> </span>DNF in, what else, men’s giant slalom.<span style=""> </span>Did not advance, men’s sprint cross country ski.<span style=""> </span>The cross country skier beat one person.<span style=""> </span>Oh, I don’t know, South Africa may have just taken the title of mediocrity away from Potugal.<span style=""> </span>You be the judge.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><b>Senegal</b></span><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> – No surprise here, their one athlete also has Austrian citizenship.<span style=""> </span>Well of course, what else would a senegelese athlete be doing in alpine skiing.<span style=""> </span>I’ll tell you what, not qualifying for the Austrian team, but rather finishing 73<sup>rd</sup> for Senegal, luckily there were other Africans in the race for him to beat up on.<o:p></o:p></span></p> http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/02/worse-country-at-2010-olympics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-4820603493969424495Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:40:00 +00002010-02-22T19:11:26.528-05:00SportsHeterosexual OlympicsSo as I watched Sweden's women's curling team, I ask myself, there must be more sex in these Olympics. I mean, the summer Olympics have beach volleyball and that Danish badminton chick, so what the hell do the winter Olympics have? Well, a bunch of athletes under snowsuits, wearing equipment or dressed up like a bunch of nancy boys (see previous post). So, in hopes of sexing this act up, I present to you, a list of sports that need to be rendered co-ed right now. The Olympics actually only have 1 co-ed sport - figure skating. So time for this grade 7 school dance to end and put these couples together!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Luge</span><br /><br />I hope you were expected that I would go there first. A friend of mine - jason - suggested that we invent a sport called skuge, which is either going feet first on your stomach or head first on your back. Well, instead of this crazy idea, why not make 2 person luge into a co-ed sport? Missionary, reverse cowgirl, and other numerically influenced sex moves would of course be encouraged. On top of that, couples should be judged on whether or not conception takes place during the run - I mean, give a couple 4 runs of 1 minute down a speed tunnel with only lycra spandex between the two, and I'm thinking at least one european team can get one by the goalie.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Team Biathlon</span><br /><br />So this would be a compulsory "couples only" event. Biathlon has a team relay event, but in my new co-ed event, couples would have to ski together and each take their turn shooting. Now I ask you, how long would it take one pissed off spouse to open up fire on the other? Dialogue in question:<br /><br />W- honey wait up, my shins are hurting<br />M - babe, we have no time to spare, Slovenia just passed us<br />W - well, I'm sorry if I'm holding you back<br />M- did I say you were holding me back? come on, we have to push hard<br />W- you don't think I pushed when I gave birth to our son? Who, by the way, you don't pay attention to, it's all Olympics, Olympics, Olympics with you. Next think you know it, he'll be in 2 man luge with some German lover of his<br />M- woman, shut up, the shooting range is coming up, we need to focus<br />W - tell me to shut up will you. give me that gun, I'm going to do some shooting of my own<br />BANG. BANG.<br /><br />(blood on the course)<br />(paramedics noise in the background)<br /><br />M- (bleeding from the midsection) Why can't you shoot that accurately on the course!!!!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Curling</span><br /><br />Well, this is a no brainer. Co-ed curling is actually already part of the Paralympics. There is no reason why there should be much talent difference between the sexes when it comes to sliding rocks down an ice surface. Again, couples should be compulsary but I think you would need to institute some form of hedonistic swapping on each team. That way wives and husbands would have to compete against one another - family would be torn apart, as children try to decide whether to cheer for mommy or daddy. Plus, wives could finally get to see their husbands "cleaning" up by all that sweeping!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Couples ski jumping</span><br /><br />So I remember reading about the "wife carry", which is some sort of crazy european sport where the men have to carry their wives for like 400m or something and at the end everyone drinks beer. Well, imagine the fun that would be had by all if couples started ski jumping together? So picture it, man on the skis and woman on his shoulders. They tuck and take off through the air, soaring to near 100m. Again, bonus points for mid-air conception, but minus points if couples crash upon landing. I'm not sure that Harry Potter Suisse guy would be so successful if he had hermione on his shoulders while flying through the air, but this would make for some pretty awesome television!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Snow man making or fort building</span><br /><br />Ok, with all these "judged" events at the Olympics, I don't see why we cannot have a judged snow man competition. Or better yet, man and woman making an igloo competition. Again, the fights would make for great tv moments. Think of "amazing race" type couples trying to build things as quickly as possible - but you would have to put some form of gimmick on it, like one person has to be blindfolded and the other person has to shout instructions at them (ok, I stole that one from Survivor).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Three legged snowboarding cross</span><br /><br />So if you think that snowboard cross is crazy, imagine a special snowboard where each person puts one leg into the board, but then the couple puts their 2 leg into a special slot in the middle of the two of them. Wow, they would get some crazy airtime if they could time it correctly. This would be shear madness. Of course, it wouldn't have to be co-ed, but it would still be really cool to see!http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/02/heterosexual-olympics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-3718356680466341294Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:47:00 +00002010-02-14T10:49:51.354-05:00SportsHomoerotic OlympicsWell the Olympics started yesterday - the great bastion of athletic achievements worldwide. What makes the Olympics so special is not the fact that it represents the greatest excellence in sports but rather that it is the quadrannual (I have no idea how to spell that word) aspect of the Games. You see, sporting events of great magnitudes happen all the time. The Olympics only come along every 4 years, so you have this awesome amount of testosterone and emotions flowing around in the Vancouver area. So my question to you is this, how do the athletes deal with all these emotions and pheromones floating around? Sex would be the natural answer, but statistically speaking, most sexual attraction is between a man and a woman. But the Olympics are events of a unisex nature - men taking on men and women battling women. So this naturally leads me to believe that homoeroticism must be running rampant in the Olympics.<br /><br />What is homoeroticism you say, well wikipedia describes it as the erotic attraction<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> between members of the same sex, most especially as it is depicted or manifested in the visual arts and literature. It can also be found in performative forms. For my purposes, I'm going to take sports as the performing arts. And I'm now going to tackle the question of which sports at the Olympics are the most homoerotic in nature.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Men's figure skating</span><br /><br />Why not start with the obvious right? Well, I'll be honest, I wanted to be politically correct by saying, what is the most homoerotic sport, but really I simply wanted to say, what is the gayest sport? No matter how you define gay, you will most certainly agree that this is gay<br /><br /><img alt="http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2009/galleries/dwtscandidates/johnny_weir.jpg" src="http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2009/galleries/dwtscandidates/johnny_weir.jpg" /><br /><br />But gay is good!!! Johnny Weir is one of the most flamboyant athletes on the US Olympic squad, but he is equally one of the most athletic. If you think homoeroticism is all a bunch of captain limp wrists, you got another thing coming. Homoerotic art is marked by shirtless athletic men's performing feats of superhuman strength and ability. Men's figure skating is simply the present day equivalent to Victorian era art - man's performance unleashed in the most gayest of mediums! <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2 Man Luge</span><br /><br />Ok, if a guy asked you to lie on top of him, you might begin to question his sexuality. Now if he asked you to lie on top of him while he was wearing a thin layer of lycra spandex, you would really question his sexuality. And finally, if said question was asked of you coupled with the fact that you would both be rocketing down a tunnel all the while trying to minimize friction and ending in a climatic ascent meant to bring you a prize, well then you would have yourself one hell of a homoerotic endeavor.<br /><br /><img alt="http://www.cw-x.com/View/Images/Community/GrimmetteMartin_2_spec.jpg" src="http://www.cw-x.com/View/Images/Community/GrimmetteMartin_2_spec.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Women's golf</span><br /><br />Ok, well I thought I would throw a shout out to the lesbians out there, who were feeling the homoerotic neglect, but then I realized two things : 1) golf is not yet in the Olympics and 2) it is not in the Winter Olympics, although one could probably go golfing right now in Vancouver. So unfortunately, we'll have to leave this carpet munching party for another blog.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Men's hockey</span><br /><br />What's that you say, hockey is the bastion of male heterosexuality? Well, I think not. Let me describe hockey another way. A bunch of men strap on protection, then proceed to go rough housing for a period of time, then come back and all take naked showers together while they recount the beauty of the activity in which they just undertook. Hmm, sounds pretty homoerotic to me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bobsleigh</span><br /><br />Whether it be 2 man or 4 man bobsleigh, packing men into a really tight spot and - much like luge - rocketing down a tunnel while packed in....well, that is pretty analogous to anal sex when you ask me. Enough said. Oh yeah, the lycra spandex "protection" doesn't help the cause any either. Nor the fact that Germany is really good at all this sledding events...I mean, come on, Germany is the torchbearer for homoeroticism!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Curling</span><br /><br />I have to be honest, I tried coming up with a sex analogy for sliding heaving stones and having them crash into one another, all the while trying to hit the button, well, it just wasn't coming. Oh wait, button is pretty metaphorical, right? Hmm, maybe not. Ok, curling is pretty heterosexual.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ski jumping</span><br /><br />They just look pretty gay.http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/02/homoerotic-olympics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-585789207634798704Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:25:00 +00002010-02-07T16:11:15.998-05:00SportsShort vs. LongSo ladies, which do you prefer, short or long? I'm talking about speed skating of course!<br /><br />Speed skating strikes me as an unusually strange sport. First of all, why call either sport "speed" skating? Why not skating? I guess because there is "figure" skating, but really, when you say there is going to be a running competition, you don't say, there is going to be a "speed" running competition, do you? You just assume that given that it is a race that speed must be involved, don't you?<br /><br />Anyways, enough of that segway. The important note here is why have two different sports? I mean, it is not like we have short track track, do we? Actually, we do, it is called indoor athletics, but there is no such thing as long and short tracks indoors. For championship purposes, there is one meet and it is on a standard 200m track. Same story for swimming. There is no short and long pool championships at the Olympics, right? Well there is short pool championships, in a 25m pool instead of 50m, but we never host those same meets at the same time? Furthermore, in both athletics and acquatics, the athletes are the same for both indoor/outdoor track and long/short pools. This is not the case for short and long track figure skating. They are two totally separate groups of athletes. In fact, the countries that excel at each sport are two almost completely different sets. Why is that the case...well, let's find out.<br /><br />First, let me demonstrate which countries are successful over each length of track. In short track speed skating, the all time leaders in medals at the Olympics are South Korea, followed by China and Canada. In the 5 Winter Olympics, only 5 countries have won short track speed skating medals, and South Korea and China represent more than half of those medals. So how do they do in long track speed skating?<br /><br />Well, not very well as it turns out. Neither country has ever won a long track speed skating gold medal at the Olympics. And both countries rank in the bottom of all 20 countries to have ever won a medal in long track speed skating at the Olympics. So what's up with that? Here are some possible, yet crazy, explanations.<br /><br />1. Size Matters - Asian are short and not long, therefore excel in short track speed skating....um, no further comment required.<br /><br />2. Population - both countries are so overpopulated that they cannot afford the space to build larger tracks. This is actually totally insane, as there are huge areas of land where one could build a long track rink and in fact, both countries host long track speed skating world cup events. So this is just insane for explanation - not to mention false.<br /><br />3. Size really does matter - all penis jokes aside, perhaps there is something to the height argument? Successful short track skaters are mostly not overly tall. The Dutch - the world's tallest people - are very successful at long track speed skating, where a longer stride length would be beneficial. Shorter strides would be more useful in short track skating as you constantly have to be adjusting to the tight corners.....so, perhaps there is something to this argument. But then again, it is not like pygmies are dominating short track at the Olympics.<br /><br />4. Asians won't compete in sports without helmets....hmm, there may be something to this argument. Long track speed skaters do not wear helmets, whereas short track athletes do. I'm not saying causation = correlation, but there must be something to this argument. Plus, everyone knows that Asians are smarter, so of course they would want to protect their heads much more, wouldn't they?<br /><br />5. The newness of short track speed skating appealed to the Asians sense of tech savvy. Well this is simply not true. If anything, short track speed skating has less "technology" than long track. I mean, I think that NASA built the USA long track speed skating uniforms. So I'm thinking this is not really an explanation of any kind.<br /><br />Well, I could sit here and keep making racist jokes, or I could simply state that the main reason for these countries success at short track speed skating has been that the sport is fairly new, as are these countries sports federations. The Europeans, where winter Olympics originated, excel at the more "traditional" sport of long track speed skating. Norway and The Netherlands are the all time leaders in long track speed skating medals. If you are a skater in these countries, you are not about to start up playing short track skating - the same way that US kids do not dream of playing in the Arena league, they prefer the NFL. Well, in these countries, short track speed skating is the Arena Football league. But in China and Korea, without a long tradition of long track speed skating, it is only natural that they would focus on this newer sport and concentrate their funds and efforts at dominating it. Well, they have certainly done this, and unless Canada or the US has anything to say about it, there could be another medal haul for China and South Korea in Vancouver on the short track.http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/02/short-vs-long.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-4670845738520216672Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:51:00 +00002010-02-03T18:34:32.223-05:00SportsNorway sucksNorway is the all time leader in winter Olympic medals. In the history of the games, they have won 263 medals; their nearest country in terms of overall medals in the USA with 193. No one would doubt that the Norwegians are not masters of winter games. But amazingly enough, they absolutely suck at ice hockey. I use the "american" euphamism "ice" hockey to underpin that Norway actually has ice. We are not talking about India here, and some form of other turban filled hockey with short curvy sticks on a green field. I'm talking about "ice" hockey. Why does Norway suck so badly? Well, in the next few minutes, I will try and get to the bottom of this.<br /><br />First of all some history. Let us confirm that Norway is indeed awful at hockey. First of all, Norway has had a national hockey program since 1937. They have been to the IIHF World Championships 56 times in those years and their best finish is 4th. That was in 1951. They have never won a medal at the Olympics, their best finish being 8th! For goodness sakes, that is terrible.<br /><br />Actually, while I'm at it, I should confirm that I'm talking about men's hockey. Women's hockey has not been around long enough to demonstrate Norway's suckiness - although they suck at women's hockey too. Finally, to confirm their ineptitude, their all-time win-loss record in international games is 333-563-106. That is a winning percentage below .300. I mean, other than the Clippers, who else sucks this much?<br /><br />They have one players in the NHL. <b>Ole-Kristian Tollefsen </b>plays for the Flyers and he sucks. He has 10 points in 145 NHL career games. Even though he plays defense, that still is awful. Tollefsen is one of only five Norwegians to ever play in the NHL, the others being <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B8rn_Skaare" title="Bjørn Skaare">Bjørn Skaare</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Myrvold" title="Anders Myrvold">Anders Myrvold</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espen_Knutsen" title="Espen Knutsen">Espen Knutsen</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Thoresen" title="Patrick Thoresen">Patrick Thoresen</a>.<br /><br />So I think we have established how much Norway shits the bed when it comes to hockey, but why? Here are a list of possible reasons:<br /><br />1. Norway is not good at sports - FALSE<br />Ok, remember that Norway leads all countries in terms of Olympic Winter medals. On top of that, they have 134 medals in the summer Olympics, which puts them on par with Cuba. I mean, Norway has a long winter and they still win this many summer medals; not to mention the summer Olympics are much more competitive. So I think we can safely say that Norway is a country full of athletes; so why no hockey players?<br /><br />2. Hockey is not popular in Scandanavia - FALSE<br />Are you kidding me? Their two neighbors, Finland and Sweden, are essentially 2 of the top 6 best hockey nations on earth (along with Canada, Russia, Czechslovakia, and USA). Sweden has won 8 medals in 20 Olympics and Finland have won 4 in 14 appearances. So clearly they DO play hockey in the Scandanavian countries. Both countries played their first international games in the 1920s and remember that Norway did play their first international over 70 years ago. So clearly they play the game up there.<br /><br />3. They don't have the population - SEMI-TRUE<br />So Norway is a country of 5 Million. That is pretty low, so they may have an excuse there. However, that is basically the same as Finland and Slovakia, both countries that do much better than Norway in hockey. Moreover, Norway's other sports teams do ok with a small population. Taking soccer as the best measure of team excellence, Norway is currently ranked 32nd in the world, not bad, considering Canada is like 56th and everyone plays soccer. They have been as high as 2nd in the FIFA standings and made the World Cup 3 times. So they can play team sports, despite their smaller population size. No excuse there.<br /><br />4. They are wimps - PROBABLY TRUE but not the reason for why they SUCK<br />Well there is a certain pride for North Americans to call European hockey as weak sissy pants. But Europeans are good at sports like rugby and soccer, both fairly intense sports. So as a general rule, it is probably not applicable across the board. But in hockey, it is true that europeans play more of a finesse game. But this style of play WORKS for Finland and Sweden, and even Switzerland. So even if we unjustly state that Norway is a wimpy country, it is not the reason for their ineptitude in hockey. And, if any norwegians are reading this, it is probably not true anyways.<br /><br />5. They don't have the facilities - FALSE (probably)<br />I'm going to go out on a limb and state that Norway has plenty of ice to play hockey on. Never having been there, I cannot confirm this, but I think we can all agree that with the Artic circle in their back yard, they have ice on which to play hockey. In fact, as a socialist and highly taxed economy, they most likely have many state sponsored recreational areas. Given that Norway has had huge success in speed skating, there is no doubt that they have the infrastructure to succeed.<br /><br />6. They cannot skate - FALSE<br />As witness to the number of speed skating medals they have won at the olympics, this is certainly not true. Norway has in fact the MOST medals ever in long track speed skating and the 2nd most gold medals. So they definitely can skate. Strangely enough, they have never won a short track speed skating medal - again, probably because all their skating surfaces are long track arenas.<br /><br />6. They play other sports instead - TRUE!<br />There we have it. Norwegians love to ski. They love to skate. They are really good at both. But they simply do not play hockey. I mean, maybe we could go into a deep psycho analysis of how the Norwegians are bread to passive, individuals sports, and maybe that is true, but I don't know. All I know is that they suck at hockey yet are amazing athletes, and skaters. There is nothing preventing them from becoming decent at hockey, but something tells me that having 15 guys do cross country skiing to bring home 20 medals is a better distribution of ressources than trying to have those 15 guys play hockey and possibly bring home 1 medal.http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/02/norway-sucks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-3459573845189961239Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:06:00 +00002010-01-27T17:47:38.632-05:00SportsNazi Hockey<span style="font-family: courier new;">With the Olympics around the corner, welcome to post number one, in what I hope will be a long list of Olympic sport blogs. The goal is to have 1 blog on each of the 15 sports in the 2010 winter Olympics. We start, as you would expect, with hockey!!!!</span><meta name="Title" content=""><meta name="Keywords" content=""><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>561</o:Words> <o:characters>3198</o:Characters> <o:company>York</o:Company> <o:lines>26</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>6</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>3927</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>11.1282</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:usemarginsfordrawinggridorigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 27.35pt 1.0in 27.35pt; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" lang="EN-CA">
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<br />As a Canadian, I am used to watching Team Canada’s hockey team beat up on less hockey skilled nations, such as Kazakhstan, Austria, Norway, Latvia, Belarus, Germany, and so forth.<span style=""> </span>Yet as a sports fan, I have always wondered about Germany.<span style=""> </span>I mean, they are a sports powerhouse.<span style=""> </span>They regularly claim a spot as one of the top three countries in both summer and winter Olympics.<span style=""> </span>They excel at both track &amp; field and luge.<span style=""> </span>I mean, come on, there is nothing this country cannot do when it comes to sports – and I haven’t even mentioned their dominance in the world’s most widely spread team sport, soccer.<span style=""> </span>So come on you wiener-eaters, how come you cannot play hockey?<span style=""> </span>Well do I have the answer for the Aryan nation – a thought experiment….um, of sorts.<span style=""> </span>What if Hitler had won World War II? Sure the world would be a lot more awful place, but think of how strong Germany’s sports team would be today!
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<br /><o:p></o:p></span> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Ok, so a few ground rules on this “experiment”.<span style=""> </span>One, for shear moral dignity, let us assume that Hitler made a few “different” decisions.<span style=""> </span>Without going into a extremely elaborate retelling of WWII (I”ll leave that to Band of Brothers!), Hitler made a few mistakes.<span style=""> </span>Notably, let us focus on his decision to go against his pact with Stalin and attack the Soviet Union in 1942.<span style=""> </span>Let’s pretend that never happened.<span style=""> </span>Let’s also pretend that – for whatever reason – Germany simply stopped the war at the zenith of its power.<span style=""> </span>We also have to assume that for the last 70 years or so, there has been absolutely no change to the German advances as they stood in 1942; meaning, the Allies woke up one morning and just decide to say “so what, we never wanted the Rhineland anyways, too many hairy women.”</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><img alt="http://www.taiwandna.com/GermanWarMap.png" src="http://www.taiwandna.com/GermanWarMap.png" /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
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<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">In this scenario, “Germany” would now encompass </span>Poland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Norway, Yugoslavia, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Crimea (if you count portions of the Soviet Union as the separate states that Germany treated them as), Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, Austria, and the Czech Republik.<span style=""> </span>Unfortunately, those damn Swiss and Swedes and their clinginess to neutrality have made them exempt from the Great German Empire.</p><p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal">So we are now ready to create team “Germany” for the 2010 men’s Olympic hockey tournament.<span style=""> </span>Mein Kempf was smart enough to reinforce his hockey squads with great players from Finland, Czech, and Slovakia.<span style=""> </span>We’ll do our best to find a few other hockey players from Poland, Belarus and who knows, maybe someone from over the Maginot line while we’re at it.<span style=""> </span>So without further ado, I present to you team Germany (I even managed to respect the 23 man roster, but I think one of my left wingers may need to drop back on defense, ha!):</p><p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><b>Goalies (3)<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal">Miikka Kiprusoff – The Finnish Flame is an easy choice to be the Nazi backstopper.<span style=""> </span>I also think he could sport a mean red-headed Hitler mustache. (Finland)</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">Tomas Vokoun – Playing in Florida should prepare him for the deluge of shots that “German” goalies are accustomed to face. (Czech)</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">Jaroslav Halak – I did my best to get “German” born Thomas Greiss as the third goalie, but this Slovakian is having too good a season for my Habitants.<span style=""> </span>Halak is third in the NHL in save percentage and earned his way on to team Germany for the games.<span style=""> </span>(Slovakia)</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><b>Defense (6)<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">Tomas Kaberle (Czech) - So I might think the Leafs are a joke, but this guy is for real. He can really anchor the power play for the Nazis. Also, he does that great Aryan thing by not having an "h" in his name.</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">Marek Zidlicky (Czech) - The sexiness name in hockey. Enough said.</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">Roman Hamrlik (Czech) - Although the "hammer" may be more of a communist symbol, this Canadiens defenseman will bring some much needed "defense" to the facist blue line.</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">Christian Ehrhoff (Germany) - Finally! A "real" German. The best part of this guy is that Yahoo lists his birthplace as "west" Germany. Doesn't Yahoo know that Hitler won the war and there was never anything like the Berlin Wall? I mean, other than that huge wall that the Germans built out in the Crimea to keep the Commies out (oh I love fake history!)</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">Zdeno Chara (Slovakia) - The tallest man ever to put on skates will create havoc and confusion in the front of all non-facist teams. Now that Germany has the Eifell Tower under its possession, Chara will be known as the Zdeno Eifell on this team!</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">Lubomir Visnovsky (Slovakia) - Not a very German sounding name, but this guy can put the puck in the net. And defenseman with his scoring prowess cannot be ignored in the Rhineland.</p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><b>Forwards (14)<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->
<br /></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Centers </span><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Tomas Plekanec (Czech) – Again, not having an "h" and being a Montreal Canadien assures his spot on team "Germany" at the games. Doesn't hurt that he is having a break out year.</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Frans Nielsen (Denmark) – The Danes actually saved the vast majority of their Jewish population by shipping them onto Sweden. Fortunately, Judaism and hockey are not very synonomous, or else such action may have resulted in the loss of great German hockey stars (oh wait, they would have been loss if they stayed in Germany anyways....ooops, Germany's hockey team is trying to put this unfortunate part of our history behind us!) In any case, team Germany welcomes this Dane to the team. Even on a losing team, he is at +13, very solid.
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<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Mikko Koivu (Finland) – I made Saku and Mikko wear liederhosen and as it turns out, Mikko looked better, so I took him on the team.</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Jochen Hecht (Germany) – Holy wiener sausages, our second "german" on team Germany!</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Anze Kopitar (Slovenia) – In a complicated series of geopolitical moves, Slovenia and all other Axis powers are eligible to play for the Fatherland (i.e. Germany....I figure if Russia is the Mother land, Germany must be the Fatherland). Otherwise, this great LA King centre, who led the NHL in scoring for a while, would just have to sit on his Slovenian ass.</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><span style="font-weight: bold;">Left Wingers</span>
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Wojtek Wolski (Poland) – Who knows where this Pole learned to weild a hockey Stick! Given that it has been 70 years since Germany invaded Poland, we feel pretty confident of Wojtek's patriotism towards team "Germany". After all, they have their common ancestory of sausages.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Alexei Ponikarovsky (Ukraine) – The Ukraine is NOT weak!</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Dany Heatley (Germany) – Ok, warning, warning. This makes absolutely not historical sense. BUT, the heater was born in Germany so he is German - never mind that under Nazi Germany, Canada would not have had an army base and his parents wouldn't be posted there in the first place. But in my world, I need him to heat up the stove for team Germany!</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Thomas Vanek (Austria) – The only place more German than Germany is Austria - or rather, the German province of "Osterich".
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Patrick Elias (Czech) - I can't believe it took this long to add a second Czech forward. I guess I miss Jagr (wait, isn't he on team Czech at the actual Olympics? Well, he is not German enough for my team). <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Right Wingers</span>
<br /></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Marian Gaborik (Slovakia) – Goals, goals, goals. This guy knows how to score them.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Marian Hossa (Slovakia) – See the comments about Gaborik. Slovakian-born Germans are really lending a sense of excellence to this team! Thank goodness Germany got a package deal when it took over Czechslovakia!</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Teemu Selanne (Finland) – And oldie but goodie.</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA">Radim Vrbata (Czech) - I have nothing to say but that Radim is a radical name! ha!</span></p><p style="font-family: courier new;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: courier new;">So there you go. Team Germany at the fictional 2010 Vancouver Games. Can they beat the Communists powers of Soviet Union? Can they take on those panzy neutral countries - Switzerland and Sweden? And finally, will they be able to handle those capitolists pigs from North America?</span>
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/01/nazi-hockey.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-5977682695598430891Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:04:00 +00002010-01-20T20:41:08.652-05:00BooksBook of the year 2009Welcome to my annual review of the books I read in 2009. This past year you will have noticed that my blogging decreased. I'm not super satisfied with that, but at the same time, the book reviews were getting over the top! Death by book reviews; it stymied my creative juices I guess. There was the awesome travel blog on destination bracketology; in that respect, 2009 was a great year for quality, but a down year for quantity. I'm not going to write any cheques that I can't cash (or whatever the saying is!) but 2010 should have a few good blogs, especially with the Olympics fast approaching - in fact, I have some pretty good ideas for great blogs on this subject, so hopefully I can deliver!<br /><br />As for the year that was in literature, 2009 was a pretty solid year. I read some great books....and here is the short list of contenders for book of the year:<br /><ul><li>The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, Max Brooks - the year started out great with the walking dead.<br /></li><li>In the skin of a Lion, Michael Ondaatje - wow, I can't believe it took me so long to read this powerhouse of Canadiana literature.</li><li>The forever war, Joe Haldeman - i wouldn't be a top list without a sci-fi entry!</li><li>The world without us, Alan Weisman - the ideas were tremendous, the writing was a bit weak,....still a pretty incredible thought experiement</li><li>The best laid plans, Terry Fallis - I couldn't stop laughing and my grammar improved immensely!</li><li>The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga - The 2008 booker winner did not disappoint. Adiga is a huge talent in the making.</li><li>The road, Cormac McCarthy - Stunning, gripping fable on man's plight for direction in a post apocalyptic world.</li><li>You shall know our velocity!, Dave Eggers - quite possibly the most original author in mainstream fiction right now.</li><li>Foundation series, Isaac Asimov - um, I'm allowed 2 entries for sci-fi, right? This is one of the all-time classics by Asimov.</li><li>The in-betweeen world of Vikram Lall - well, I preferred the Assassin's song (which I read in 2009 as well), but this one had more meaning, as I had traveled to Kenya this year.</li><li>Three day road, Joseph Boyden - although his 2nd book "Through black spruce" was the more critically acclaimed novel, this first novel by Boyden set up this Cree author for great brilliance.</li><li>A farewell to arms, Ernest Hemingway - It is easy to ignore Hemingway as simply one of these greats, but this novel reminded me of why we consider him so great.</li><li>Bigfoot, I not dead, Graham Roumieu - um, could I actually pick a animated book of 35 pages as my favourite book of 2009? You may end up thinking less of me!</li><li>The heart is a lonely hunter, McCullers - minus points because Oprah liked it, but plus points because I liked it!</li></ul>There you have it, 15 books that made my list of memorable books of 2009. They are listed in the chronological order in which I read them. It would probably have been easier to pick my least favourite book of the year, which is easily Seeing, by Jose Saramago. A HUGE let down following the brilliance of Blindness, this book suffers from unattainable expectations on my part. But I liked Saramago so much I couldn't help but be disappointed. The concept was there, but the execution was certainly not.<br /><br />So which one was my favourite of 2009? Well, just to draw this one out even more, why not give a countdown to the top 5! In no particular order, here we go:<br /><br /><ol><li>Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden</li><li>The Road by Cormac McCarthy</li><li>The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga</li><li>You shall know our velocity! by Dave Eggers</li><li>In the skin of a Lion - Michael Ondaatje</li></ol>Ok, so these are all really great novels. I can't believe I took out all those funny (Bigfoot) and serious (World without us), but there you have it, the top 5 are all pure fiction novels. My favourite of this list would be Three Day Road. The best written book - in my opinion - would be In the Skin of a Lion. But when you put them both together, my book of 2009 would be.....The Road by Cormac McCarthy. But I admit I may be partially influenced by Aragorn's performance in the movie.<br /><br />Good reading.http://www.richdeneault.com/2010/01/book-of-year-2009.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-1057337257386662810Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:06:00 +00002009-12-07T17:37:06.213-05:00SportsInjury ProneIf you follow sports, you are more than familiar with the seemingly ubiquitous term "injury prone." The media like to throw it around to criticize certain players for their seemingly unending trips to the emergency room. More to the point, the media like to "classify" athletes as injury prone. Prior to today, I hadn't given the term much thought, except to agree that some players seemed to be injured more often than others - or was it that they took games off due to injury at a higher rate than others?<br /><br />The reason for my sudden consideration of this term has more to do with my own body than any millionaire hockey player out there. You see, I tore some ligaments in my MCL yesterday at hockey - fortunately it was hockey and not Ultimate, thus reassuring me that I am in fact Canadian. After the injury, a friend of mine mentioned that I seemed to have no luck with injuries. As a recreational thirty something athlete, I tend to disagree with the use of the word "luck" in that sentence. You see, most athletes (or shall we refer to them as sports participants - a term that is perhaps more a propos for those less inclined to sports than others but who nevertheless participate at the same level) over the age of thirty tend to injure themselves fairly regularly. Although I have no data to confirm this, I think we could all agree that weekend warriors get hurt for one of 2 reasons: 1) driving their "Honda-civic" bodies as though they were BMWs, as perhaps they once were and 2) lack of regular playing time coupled with intensity leads to extreme soreness which we will characterize as injuries, although they are perhaps less severe than the category injuries, which can be, how shall we say, "spectacular"<br /><br />If we assume the logic of these categories, we can see that luck plays a minor role in injuries for recreational athletes. They (or rather we) get hurt because we are no longer 16, nor are we as active as we once were. We get hurt because as we age, our bodies become worn down, but many of us continue to treat our bodies as though they were in mint condition. Unless you are taking some "vitamin S" (thanks James!), I got news for you, you are going to hurt yourself fairly regularly unless you put more and more time into maintaining your body as you age.<br /><br />But what of professional athletes in their prime? Is there such a thing as being injury prone? Are some athletes more likely than others to hurt themselves in the pursuit of their sport? The statistics show a resounding yes. There are some logical and straightforward reasons for this:<br /><br /><ol><li>Some athletes simply condition themselves better than others. Staying fit and strong give you a better chance of avoiding injuries.</li><li>Some athletes take more chances than others - they go "all out", as the popular euphimysm goes. The harder they play, the more likely they have of injuring themselves.</li><li>Believe it or not, some athletes are simply unlucky. Yes luck plays a role - even the most cautious of drivers will get in to accident for the simple reason that there are other cars on the road!</li></ol>So given these considerations - and we could certainly state other reasons if we gave this more thought - it seems logical that some athletes are injury prone. Sadly, I have come to accept that I may be one of these athletes. When the media speak of these athletes however, it often seems it is with disdain or some sort of allusion to a genetic weakness. "Oh well Bob, he's injury prone, so don't expect too much output from him this season." Rather than focusing on the negative, why not revere these gladiators of aggression and "all-out-ness" as example of how to "go hard, or go home." If nothing else, sports needs these injury prone knuckleheads to demonstrate to others what not to do, or simply, how to avoid a safe and injury free lifestyle!http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/12/injury-prone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-3822583891808031777Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +00002009-11-25T17:50:46.549-05:00BooksBigfoot, I not dead - Graham RoumieuThanks to my good pal Jacob who recommended me this book. Since I love awards, I will hereby grant "Bigfoot, I not dead" by Graham Roumieu, the following awards, of which it is fondly deserving, I promise:<br /><br /><ul><li>best novel in the category of "takes less than 30 minutes* to read" - * unless you are one of those crazy Amazon.com reviewers who speedread through Anna Karenina in like 18 minutes</li><li>best novel about bigfoot</li><li>funniest graphic novel</li><li>funniest kids book that is not really intended for kids</li><li>most unexpected delight I have read in many years</li></ul>The best way I can describe this book is through analogy. Imagine your smartest nephew - if you have no nephews, imagine the smartest kid you know that is old enough to tell you what sex is, but has not had sex yet. Ok, got him in your mind? You sure you have him in your head now?<br /><br />Ok, imagine that kid was pretty good, but not amazing at drawing. Sort of like the Eli Manning of art class. Sure he is not Peyton, but he is good right?<br /><br />Ok, now imagine this nephew of yours decides to write a book about a mythical creature. Yet the book is not really a novel. It is sort of an allegory, but with no lesson. Also, the story lines don't really fit together - kind of like the paragraphs in this blog entry.<br /><br />Ok, now throw in a few swear words, some sarcastic witicism, and a crude sense of animal violence, and voila, you have Graham Roumieu's work. I promise you will laugh out loud.<br /><br />Note, not for the faint of heart.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Instead, like Kerouac Bigfoot decide to travel land. Like Odysseus have hard time get back, romance some ladies and slay monster both figurative and real. Like OJ, just want run down highway for little while and clear name later.<br /><br />http://www.roumieu.com/index.php<br /><br /></span>http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/11/bigfoot-i-not-dead-graham-roumieu.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-464547736836518696Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:56:00 +00002009-11-04T17:14:07.403-05:00Her best attributesAlthough my readership may be limited, I hope to achieve a sense of questionnaire with this posting. The aim, as you see, will be to evaluate my own and others lusty tendencies! Below I will describe a scenario, and you - whoever you are - will hopefully let me know (truthfully!) if a) you have ever behaved as such and b) if not, am I rather lustrous to be thinking such things?<br /><br />Here is the situation. I am walking down the street when I see a group of 2 or 3 women walking towards me (you should note that this scenario works for either men or women, there is nothing sexist about the practice, simply the example). Purely subconsciously, I quickly evaluate the better "assets" of each of the oncoming woman. By assets, I mean, of course, their physical attributes :) Reminding you dear reader that I am referring strictly to a subconscious practice, I evaluate these attributes and quickly splice together all the better ones into one "super-woman". <br /><br />Perhaps an example will help clarify. Three women are walking down the street. The first one has beautiful hair. The second has great legs. The third has a sexy sense of style. When you put these all together, you get a fine woman indeed! Again, you can do this with men as well. And I will reiterate that I never do this consciously. Rather, when you notice 2 or three girls walking together, my eyes simply dart over them quickly. My brain (which part of it that always thinks of sex - oh ya, both sides :) quickly remembers the better attributes of each girl, deletes the unsavory elements, and I am left with the image of one fine girl. Of course, when I look closer, I realize that what I'm looking at is not one very attractive woman, but rather 3 regularly attractive women!<br /><br />So what do you think? Am I some sort of sexist pig? In my defense, I do this sometimes with men as well - I'm just not left with the same tingly feeling in my pants, so to speak. I simply think that there is a part of your brain that has selective memory. It keeps the good parts in reserve and suppresses the not so jolly memories. Sometimes I try to do this process consciously, but usually the spontaneity is lost and I'm simply not left with the same feeling. It still is pretty fun. We all have our strong and weak points; if we could replace our weak points with our friend's strong points, then this is usually what creates a really sexy feel. Kind of like the Constructicons in Transformers!<br /><br />Ok, let me know what you think.http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/11/her-best-attributes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-1488916577391450739Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:49:00 +00002009-10-17T17:01:52.805-04:00BooksThe Lost Symbol - Dan BrownThe Lost Symbol is Dan Brown's new book , and this one centers around the not so secret society of the FreeMasons. It is classic Dan Brown - and by this I mean that I hate that I love it. Similar to a fat chick at an ice cream bar, I simply hope that nobody is noticing that I am gorging my face on the sinful delight.<br /><br />I won't bother boring you with the plot - think something like blockbuster movie novel. Reading Dan Brown actually reminds me of my studies at University - while I'm studying, I'm so focused on cramming it into my brain, but a few weeks later, I don't remember anything. I imagine it is similar to having sex for the first time - while it is going on (all 19 seconds of it) it seems like the greatest adrenaline rush. But you quickly forget all about it, as you realize it wasn't really all that great. So what I'm trying to say, if you follow me, is that masturbation is probably better time spent than reading Dan Brown. But my god, you get so into it while your reading it!!!!<br /><br />If I have to criticize it, I will say that Dan Brown has not clue when to <span style="font-style: italic;">use </span>italics, as he seems to use them at will. The last 50 pages or so - after the denouement - are just plain awful. Robert Langdon, I thought, was interested in another woman in previous books, but there is absolutely no character development. Dan Brown probably liked to play with Rubix Cubes when he was younger, as the mix of pictures and little riddles is almost mind numbing.<br /><br />Having said all that, much like the 200 million people who pre-ordered his book, I'm sure you will read this book. And honestly, it is a fun book, but you don't need me to tell you that there are literally thousands of "better" books out there.http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/10/lost-symbol-dan-brown.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-4870352759950880388Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:26:00 +00002009-10-08T21:46:24.134-04:00SportsOctober Baseball!!!!!!Well, well, well. What is this? A blog entry by Richard Deneault. Yes, indeed, folks. I have escaped from my fox hole just in time for the MLB playoffs. And no sooner do I poke my head out than I find literary inspiration in a sunflower seed.<br /><br />You see, we all surely are aware of baseball's players penchant for "jawcular" (a word I just coined to mean "relating to the jaw" - a play on words on the word jocular, meaning to jest) hobbies. You see, long before there was big league chew, there was snuff, or chewing tobacco for those of a more verbose domain. Today's ball player enjoys the seed of <span style="font-style: italic;">Helianthus annuus</span>, or the common sunflower for those readers not of the Latin tongue. Whatever your passion, ball players have been smacking their lips for generations in anticipation of, I can only presume, something happening on the ball field. Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But sometimes it seems odd how much of the game time is spent by nothing happening.<br /><br />To fill this void, today's television producers have shied away from the usual 3rd baseman's jockstrap adjustment and went for a more subtler approach: persistent, yet random, views of various ball players and managers chewing on sunflower seeds. Honestly, watch a game and tell me how often you DON'T see someone with a wad in their mouth.<br /><br />Oddly enough, in tonight's NLDS (that is National League Divisional Series for all you Honus Wagner virgins out there) Game 2 between the Cardinals of St Louis and the Dodgers of Los Angeles, one Matt Holliday - acquired by the Cardinals at the All Star break to help give offensive help to uber stud and all universe All Star Albert Pujols - could be seen removing a bag of sunflower seeds from his back pocket. This may only seem <span style="font-style: italic;">mildly</span> strange to those sports fans who are not used to seeing their favorite athletes enjoying snacks <span style="font-style: italic;">while on the playing surface during</span> the game, but what was rather strange for Holliday's chow-down was that it came directly AFTER he had made a game changing error, which eventually cost his team the game, and, dare I say, most likely the season, now that they are down 2-0 in the best of 5 series. <br /><br />Ask yourself this question - if you had just made an error allowing the opposite team to essentially get back into the game, what would you want to be seen doing? Most likely hiding under a rock away from the camera's lens. But barring this option, you probably would want to look contrite and stunned. In harsh contrast, Holliday could be seen happily chewing away on his sunflower seeds, which I will remind you, he had stuffed into his back pocket. The back pocket of his playing uniform. Good grief. Can you imagine a hockey player having a chocolate bar keep in his elbow pad and taking out after falling down on the blue line, thus allowing the opposing team to have a breakaway? Or maybe a football lineman pulling out a sack of potato chips out of his shoulder pads as the opposing quarterback huddles with his team?<br /><br />What truly amazes me actually is that there is no stat for sunflower consumption in baseball. Surely the Sabermatician will be coming up with this one anytime soon? And this kids is why I love baseball. Glad to be back in the blogging world!http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/10/october-baseball.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-842811553178148489Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:11:00 +00002009-06-18T16:22:29.151-04:00BooksLibrivox Short Sci-Fi Collection, Vol 12<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.onlinecourses.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/science-fiction.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 155px; height: 233px;" src="http://www.onlinecourses.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/science-fiction.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Another Librivox collection of Short Science Fiction from the public domain. This collection contains the following stories:<br /><br /><ul><li>As long as you wish by John O'Keefe</li><li>The big fix by George O. Smith</li><li>The fourth invasion by Henry Josephs</li><li>Goliah by Jack London</li><li>The man who saw the future by Edmond Hamilton</li><li>The nothing equation by Tom Godwin</li><li>The putnam tradition by Sonya Dorman</li><li>A scientist rises by D.W. Hall</li><li>The shadow and the flash by Jack London</li><li>We didn't do anything wrong, hardly, by Roger Kuykendall</li></ul>Very few of these stories struck me as anything but special. London's two works - surprising by some to be considered science fiction - were well written and original for their time no doubt. <br /><br />I feel uninspired and unimaginative, so, this is probably my worse entry ever. So be it.http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/06/librivox-short-sci-fi-collection-vol-12.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-4750881220814947739Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:53:00 +00002009-06-16T11:03:56.519-04:00BooksThe White Tiger - Aravind Adiga<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://melinda.pink-spider.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/white-tiger.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 158px; height: 242px;" src="http://melinda.pink-spider.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/white-tiger.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Aravind Adiga's debut novel, which captured the 2008 Booker prize, is truly a modern Indian novel. Adiga introduces us to taxi driver, Balram Halwai, whose lust for upward mobility drives him to actions he would have once considered unthinkable. You see, Balram is child of the Darkness, and in order to reach the Light, it will take some fairly sinister and deviant actions on his part.<br /><br />A dark comedy, written with brilliantly scathing acumen into the India of today. Think Slumdog Millionaire but without the Bollywood subtitles. Adiga shows a dry wit and a blunt humour that bodes well for his career. Certainly one of the better Booker winners.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">In terms of formal education I may be somewhat lacking. I never finished school, to put it bluntly. Who cares! I haven't read many books, but I've read all the ones that count.</span>http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/06/white-tiger-aravind-adiga.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-8290724067324163249Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:36:00 +00002009-06-02T16:38:10.597-04:00BooksDeathworld - Harry Harrison<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/c0/c3883.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 284px;" src="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/c0/c3883.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span lang="en-ca"><span style="font-family:Arial;">It seems as though I have grown accustomed to Harrison's sci-fi brand of writing. I first read his entire Eden trilogy, which envisioned a world where reptiles were the dominant species. I have also read a number of his short stories. Now I have come to his deathworld series. I have to admit that when you need to think about nothing, you could do worse things than read Harry Harrison. </span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family:Arial;">Ethical sci-fi writer he is not, but he does know how to simply tell a story and stretch your imagination. </span></span></p> <p><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Deathworld is a fairly simple yet overly trite plot. There is a planet, known as Pyrrus, where the very planet is evolving life forms for the sole purpose of attacking humans. When our hero, Jason dinAlt - a rogue gambling addict with psionic abilities- finds himself on the planet, he suddenly feels to urge to get to the bottom of this mystery. What he finds out, naturally, could mean death for him.</span></span></p> <p><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family:Arial;">I will grant this book one thing - phonetically, the book's protagonist and I share the same last name. Other than this, I can't really see myself recommending this book, even to other sci-fi fans; there are simply many others worthwhile books to read. Let's put it this way, I don't plan on reading the sequel.</span></span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family:Arial;">But they shook hands then because they were both strong men.</span></span> </p>http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/06/deathworld-harry-harrison.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-6075734199610639500Fri, 22 May 2009 15:47:00 +00002009-05-22T12:02:34.683-04:00BooksBel Canto - Ann Patchett<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n25/n129870.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 178px; height: 244px;" src="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n25/n129870.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />It is always nice when someone you respect makes a recommendations to you. I would attempt to say that such recommendations are usually a success, but this is not always the case. We are all prone to read reviews and other peoples recommendations to help us decide our <span style="font-style: italic;">own</span> opinion, which is strange. For one, you may not have the same views as someone else; for another, even if you hold similar views, you may not be in the same frame of mind when you experience the same book, film, or show. For this reason, recommendations are not always a success.<br /><br />Fortunately, I can say that this particular book was recommended by a friend, and I thank her for this recommendations. A book ostensibly about a hostage situation, ends up more as a book about human frailty and the innate instinct for human's to love, no matter what the circumstances.<br /><br />The premise is simple: somewhere in South America a dinner party is being thrown for dignitaries from around the world. The guest of honor will be world renown opera singer Roxanne Coss. The party will take a seemingly disastrous turn for the worse when terrorists take everyone hostage. But what begins in a scene of seemingly violent intentions blossoms into a time of seemingly endless beauty. For the reader, all good things must come to an end....can the same be said for the characters? I recommend that you find out for yourself.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">...and what I feel in my heart is love. there is no point in not telling you that. These people who detain us so pleasantly may decide to shoot us after all. It is a possibility. And if that is the case, then why should I carry this love with me to the other world? Why not give to you what is yours?</span><br /><br />(this interaction between the opera singer Roxanne and one of the Russian hostages, Fyodorov, is one of the most beautiful dialogue interactions I have ever come across in any book)http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/05/bel-canto-ann-patchett.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-1816453051665028801Fri, 15 May 2009 21:42:00 +00002009-05-15T17:45:29.936-04:00BooksThe Republic - Plato<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pirivianpalace.com/library/literature/Plato/plato.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 174px; height: 232px;" src="http://pirivianpalace.com/library/literature/Plato/plato.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span lang="en-ca" style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Times;">Consider this the latest book report ever filed. It is about 2400 years overdue. I prefer to think that I should have studied this document sometime in high school, so by that measure, I’m only about a decade tardy. To be quite honest, I am wholly unprepared to write anything resembling intelligence on this matter. The shear depth of Plato’s intelligence renders me into a babbling little girl, crying for my split cone of ice cream, having been shoved by a tyrannical bully. That bully is the Athenian state, who condemn Plato’s teacher – a little known gent known as Socrates – to death. In reverence to his mentor, Plato finishes The Republic, which is essentially a really long and drawn out conversation on the nature of justice. Plato founds the world’s first university – the Academy – where he begins espousing the views found in The Republic. Really, it should be considered a total failure as his only student of any worth is Aristotle. I mean come on, that is like founding a hockey school called Timbits and only having Sidney Crosby graduate the program. For shame.</span></span></p> <p><span lang="en-ca" style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Times;">I don’t really have too much of a recommendation on this one. If you want to learn about Philosophy, don’t read this book – take a philosophy course, in which the main aspects of this book are taught to you. That was my mistake. I didn’t pay attention enough while reading The Republic that now I’m going to embark on reading Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy in hopes that I can make up for lost time. Kind of like buying up Park Place and Broadway and dropping down hotels, except continually landing on Marvin Garden and then having to re-finance said Park Place and Broadway hotels because you are eternally spending time in inferior lodgings. I’m sure you understand the analogy here. </span></span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span lang="en-us" style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Times;">Under the tyranny of erotic love he has permanently become while awake what he used to become occasionally while asleep.</span></span></p>http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/05/republic-plato.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-1724661321866058733Sun, 03 May 2009 18:40:00 +00002009-05-03T14:57:11.046-04:00BooksThe best laid plans - Terry Fallis<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.disruptiveconversations.com/WindowsLiveWriter/TerryFalliswraps.andthelistenerswantmore_14F36/image%7B0%7D%5B3%5D.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 244px;" src="http://www.disruptiveconversations.com/WindowsLiveWriter/TerryFalliswraps.andthelistenerswantmore_14F36/image%7B0%7D%5B3%5D.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />One of the best comedic novels I have read. And I'm not just referring to this year or lately, I mean <span style="font-style: italic;">ever</span>.<br /><br />As a critic, you must always remember context. For example, if you go see a summer action movie like X-Men, you don't come out and criticize it for weak acting or a poor story line - no. As a summer action, you are looking for entertainment, crazy plot, a few laughs and lots of inane drivel. Same holds true for books. Terry Fallis has delivered a masterful work of comedic fiction. For his efforts, he was awarded the Stephen Leacock award for humour. <br /><br />The plot is fairly straightforward, as one expects in a work of comedy. Angus McLintock is a 61 year professor of engineering at the University of Ottawa. He looks forward to drifting into retirement, sadly lamenting the passing of his dear wife, while working on a hovercraft, playing chess, and writing articles about proper grammar. Daniel Addison very recently left political life when he found his girlfriend - as he puts it - "very enthusiastically lobbying the caucas [of the Opposition house leader, for whom she works]." Deciding to quit politics, he moves to the rural community of Cumberland and takes on a job teaching English at the University of Ottawa. When Daniel agrees to one more favour to his friends in the Liberal party, the lives of Daniel, Angus, and the rest of the country are never the same.<br /><br />I don't often say this or even mean it literally, but you will laugh out loud as you read this book, and I challenge you - whether your political colour be blue, red, orange, green or neutral - to admit that you would not vote for Angus McLintock if he were running in your next federal election. Outstanding effort by Fallis and to think that it had started out as a mere podcast!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I was running a phantom candidate, in a cash-strapped campaign we were sure to lose, aided by an ailing octogenarian, her attractive granddaughter, and two pierced punks.</span>http://www.richdeneault.com/2009/05/best-laid-plans-terry-fallis.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304852059084147747.post-1203246291311079076Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:01:00 +00002009-04-28T18:30:55.270-04:00BooksThe world without us - Alan Weisma<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mondolithic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/focus-poland_warsaw-without-us.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 234px;" src="http://www.mondolithic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/focus-poland_warsaw-without-us.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>TIME Magazine's #1 non-fiction book of 2007, Weisman's "though experiment" asks a very simple question - what would happen to the world without us. Yet the answers to this questions are anything but simple, and should open up a myriad of complex ethical, moral, and physical dilemmas for all humanity.<br /><br />Weisman explores what the world will look like should humans disappear tomorrow - this includes a look at the land, the air, the water. He examines such diverse locations as world wonders, cities, farms, coral reefs, nuclear power plants, oil refineries and subterranean salt domes. To say that he leaves no stone unturned would be an adept description of his relestenless and exhaustive search for answers. Indeed, Weisman tries to present tangible answers to an untagible question.<br /><br />I would be remiss if I did not makes certain critics of the book however. For one, to say that Weisman's presentation is scatter brain would not do his lack of organization justice. I do not say so lightly; as the recipient of various prizes, his writing style should reflect his creative genius. However, it simply fails on this account. Perhaps I am being too academic in expecting an overview, some organization and a flow to the book; as he presents an academic thought experiment, I expect a rigorous tour de force grounded in academia. His approach is simply to present a situation in a certain chapter, and then go about masterfully discussing that issue. On this account, he has written a brilliant, creative and thought provoking piece of non-fiction. I only fault him for transition between chapters, and a lack of structure to the book. As this hardly detracts from the sheer genius of the book, I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in not only a theoretical outcome to our planet, but dare I say a discussion that is rooted in the very issues that face our planet today.<br /><br />Rather than include a quote, I thought I would leave you with a series of facts from the book:<br /><ul><li>there is a patch of garbage - almost entirely made of plastic - referred to as the north pacific gyre that is twice the size of texas</li><li>we produce 250 billion pounds of nurdles (plastic resin) per year</li><li>communication towers kill about 1 billion birds per year (simply by existing)</li><li>it would take 100 000 years for CO2 to return to pre-human levels</li><li>dioxins and PCBs would last tens of millions of years</li><li>Mount Rushmore has a good chance of remaining on earth until the sun dies out<br /></li><li>depleted U-238 would have reached its half life in 4.5 billion years</li><li>our radio and television signals will continue forever (albeit diminished)</li></ul>Honestly, read this book. Or at least visit the web page!<br /><br />http://www.worldwithoutus.com/index2.htmlhttp://www.richdeneault.com/2009/04/world-without-us-alan-weisma.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Rich)44